The clock is ticking for the Twelfth Doctor. Peter Capaldi will exit Doctor Who Series 10 on Christmas Day and, in a new interview, departing showrunner Steven Moffat talked about the upcoming regeneration and, he promises, that it will be something that has never been seen in the 50-year history of the show.

The Twelfth Doctor’s Last Adventure

After thirteen Doctors (including a secret War Doctor), fans are pretty much aware of how regenerations work: the Doctor, after suffering a fatal injury, will try to heal himself by changing his entire body and releasing a burst of energy that, at one point, destroyed an entire fleet of dalek ships. Granted, things have not always been that way; regenerations were a lot more simple in classic episodes. However, since the reboot, regenerations were pretty much identical.

Moffat wants to shake things up before he leaves. The departing screenwriter told BBC Radio 4 (via Metro UK) that he is working with incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall to choreograph Capaldi’s swan song.

“You all know that the mighty Peter Capaldi will be bowing out. But we’re going to do it slightly differently this time. And I’ve been working with Chris about how we do the changeover in a new way,” he teased. “So I’m not going to tell you what that is – I’m excited by it, I think it’s going to work well – but it’s not… well every regeneration is different, but we are playing it slightly differently this time. I think we’ve got a good idea – but I’m not telling you what it is.”

It is impossible to predict what the award-winning television scribe has planned for the regeneration scene. After seven years at the helm of the program, he has steered the TARDIS into many different and exciting adventures. He also has been a lifelong fan of the show and, therefore, is very much aware that it has to continuously reinvent itself as often as the Doctor changes his face.

Why Not A Female Doctor, Then?

Moffat was also responsible for the idea that Time Lords can regenerate into a Time Lady at some point. It happened to The Master which introduced the magnificent Michelle Gomez as Missy.

“I didn’t cast a woman, I cast a man,” he said. “I didn’t [cast a woman] because I wanted to cast Matt Smith and I wanted to cast Peter Capaldi.”

He reiterated that whenever they had to search for a Doctor, they do not look at the actor’s gender/age/appearance. Instead, they choose whoever embodies the kind of character they want to see on the television program.

“I didn’t think it was a terrible idea, I just thought, ‘I want to cast those people’ – that was it,” he added.

However, the next Doctor is not up for Moffat to decide. He will exit the show with Capaldi this Christmas and Chibnall, who previously worked with David Tennant on Broadchurch, will be handed the responsibility of choosing who will headline the show.

Doctor Who Series 10 Finale Episode

In the meantime, there are still a few more episodes before Doctor Who Series 10 comes to a close. Moffat promises that he has a big surprise waiting for the finale episode.

“You haven’t got to the end of this series yet, which ends on – I hope – quite an unexpected note,” he shared. Does this have anything to do with the return of John Simm’s the Master?